Ultrasonic assisted water flooding

Abstract

Waterflooding being the most frequently used improved oil recovery methods fails to produce more than 30% of OOIP due to high viscosity of oil and/or high interfacial tension. Therefore chemicals or miscible flooding methods are required to improve the recovery of waterflooding. Another alternative and yet unconventional method is application of ultrasonic waves to waterflooding. Despite more than 40 years of experimental studies, there is lack of fundamental understanding about mechanisms and factors controlling the efficiency of ultrasonic assisted water flooding. Series of displacement experiments were conducted on unconsolidated sand pack, using kerosene, vaseline and engine oil as non wet phase in the system. 2-16% increase in the recovery was observed as a consequence of sonication. In order to enhance the understanding about contributing mechanisms a series of supplementary (static) experiments were conducted by using ultrasonic bath, including: temperature experiments, emulsification experiment and one phase flow experiment. From the results of those experiments, emulsification and viscosity reduction were identified as main mechanisms contributing in improving the recovery of waterflooding.The outcome of this research is expected to enhance the insight about application of high frequency waves and reducing ambiguities about the mechanisms involved.